Posted
by
Soulskill
on Monday November 30, 2015 @12:10PM
from the because-trolls-will-hate-all-that-attention dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A campaign taking shape in Brazil seeks to fight online harassment in an unusual way: by posting the abusive comments on real billboards. "The group collects comments from Facebook or Twitter and uses geolocation tools to find out where the people who have posted them live. They then buy billboard space nearby and post the comments in huge letters, although names and photos are pixelated." Brazil has laws prohibiting racial abuse, but this group doesn't think the government is doing enough to stop it. The campaign's founder said, "Those people [who post abuse online] think they can sit in the comfort of their homes and do whatever they want on the internet. We don't let that happen. They can't hide from us, we will find them."

No seriously. I'd be curious about the legalities of this; can they ensure that the age of the person they're "outing" is an adult? Are their "children online privacy" laws in Brazil similar to the U.S.?

At what point do people need to take responsibility for their actions or words?

I was under the impression that being a minor was not permission to misbehave, but is a state where the punishments for misbehaving are less than for an adult since a minor is still theoretically learning. The crux is that the minor still needs to be punished so that they learn that there are indeed consequences for their actions.

This seems like a fairly mild form of social shaming. People generally have fairly short atte

At what point do people need to take responsibility for their actions or words?

For actions, it is when they cause specific identifiable harm to other individuals. For words, it is when they are a clear and credible threat to a specific individual, or a clear and immediate danger to other people (shouting fire in a theater). Otherwise people should be free to do most things, and free to say anything, including things that are offensive.

This campaign is shameful. Brazilians should be fighting to end censorship of opinions, not trying to get their government to be more repressive.

At what point do people need to take responsibility for their actions or words?

For actions, it is when they cause specific identifiable harm to other individuals. For words, it is when they are a clear and credible threat to a specific individual, or a clear and immediate danger to other people (shouting fire in a theater). Otherwise people should be free to do most things, and free to say anything, including things that are offensive.

This campaign is shameful. Brazilians should be fighting to end censorship of opinions, not trying to get their government to be more repressive.

You understand that it is an NGO thing, right? No government involved. No repression.

You understand that it is an NGO thing, right? No government involved. No repression.

You understand that it is an NGO that lobbies the government to be more repressive? From the summary: "Brazil has laws prohibiting racial abuse, but this group doesn't think the government is doing enough to stop it."

This is supposed to be shameful? I'd be damn proud I'd one of my trolls made it on this billboard. That's like the ultimate goal for a troll like me - getting as many eyeballs on my message and as much attention as possible.

Next time I go to Brazil, I'll think of this campaign and take my shot at fame with a good troll or two.

This is supposed to be shameful? I'd be damn proud I'd one of my trolls made it on this billboard. That's like the ultimate goal for a troll like me - getting as many eyeballs on my message and as much attention as possible.

Next time I go to Brazil, I'll think of this campaign and take my shot at fame with a good troll or two.

Sincerely,AC

So is this automated? And if so how long until they start posting billboards of goatsx because they were out trolled while trying to for troll trolls.

Thank you, I needed a good laugh. I would contribute to a fund to put APK out there in his home town. It should also be signed Alexander Peter Kowalski, just to make sure everyone knows what APK stands for.

Unfortunately, this post is a little lacking on the usual insults, so it isn't a very good example. But perhaps if your mom was forced to endure you being quoted insulting people with Autism, and calling them retarded, perhaps she might put a stop to your internet privileges.

That would be the Syracuse/Liverpool, New York area. If you go to lamar.com it looks like they have quite a bit available. Billboards, buses (outside ads, inside ads, bus stop ads, etc), posters, etc. How about we wrap an entire bus with APK quotes? Are you aware of any pictures of him? That would help increase brand identity and recognition. It looks like we would be on the hook for a few hundred through $20k per month depending on size and placement. This is easily doable. If we put up more than o

I didn't eat anything, man-child. Steve sent me an email and said that he had removed the link. That's what his email said, and that's what I said in my comments here. If he restored the link that doesn't change the fact that he sent me an email saying he removed it. I imagine you convinced him to restore the link. Keep spamming Slashdot and I'm sure he'll end up with a flood of emails questioning why he supports you. If he has to deal with that it's going to be your fault alone, and he'll know that.

I'm not going to forward anything to you. I filled out the form on it-mate.co.uk, and got this response from services@it-mate.co.uk (in part):

Cheers for the heads up. I'll have another word with him (I've also removed the referenced thread).

When I got that I checked the link, and it redirected to the forum login page. It sounds like you didn't ask him to put it back, so I'll go ahead and let him know that 1) it's still live and 2) you continue to press the issue.

I'm not interested in forwarding anything to you just so that you can prove things for yourself, because I am emailing him from my personal account. I am not going to forward anything to you from my personal account, ever. I don't need you harassing me through email. I don't care if you believe that I am or am not emailing him, that is yet another thing that I am not interested in proving to you.

I got the original email, and I also emailed him last week after you continued to spam and got a reply to that one as well. He asked me to continue forwarding your spam so that he can collate a record of it. So, by all means, keep on spamming Slashdot. There's a real easy way you can verify this, and it has nothing to do with me. So feel free to contact him yourself and ask him if I'm sending him links to your spam comments. See what he says. Also keep in mind that I don't believe anything you say, so

See subject: You failing to provide any proof of this is my proof of it.

Your proof is a lack of proof? Wow, Alex. That's some pretty ironclad reasoning right there. Way to go.

You can't even back your own alleged credentials

You are still unable to grasp the difference between "can't" and "won't" I see.

Mr. Burn's ONTO YOUR GAMES douchebag. He knows You're pitiful and full of shit.

He has indicated nothing of the sort in his correspondence with me. The communication has been very cordial.

I had 1 I used once to speak to John Carmack in 2005 & haven't used it since you LYING LITTLE MOTHERFUCKER...

Wow, did I strike a nerve there, Alex? Do you feel bad about being called out for the obvious and transparent troll that you are? You want to know how to resolve that? Stop spamming. It's that simple. Maybe find a

Sure I can, I can identify myself and provide further proof through email or uploading a file to the company servers. I'm going to do neither though, because (as I've said repeatedly) I have no desire to identify myself to you, or really anyone else on Slashdot. That's why you don't see my full name in my user name.

Prove Mr. Burn sent you ANY email (you can't).

Sure I can, I can forward the emails that I've received from him, but I'm not going to do that because I'm not going to send you any email at all (see above). But you can prove it easily enoug

APK, I asked you some direct questions twice now that you haven't answered. Please answer them.

By the way: I did email him

OK, so you know that I am emailing him, so you know that I'm not lying about that. Well done. See, I knew you could do it.

showing YOU & that other big talker started up your trolling CRAP with me here!

Oh, you mean that was me that forced you to post your spam 10 times in the same thread? My goodness, I had no idea that I literally forced you to do that. I suppose I also forced you to taunt people by saying that you will continue to post it as long as people mod it down. Man, maybe I ha

And by "starting shit", you mean "trying to get you stop spamming Slashdot"? That's my 1 goal here. I've said that numerous times. Why do you insist on being a spammer?

I do know MY WARE'S STILL THERE

I have not asked him to remove your listing. I have also not emailed him since last week. I'm not making a concerted effort to have your software removed from his site, I am simply looking for your spam and reporting it to him when I see it. If you stop spamming, fine, we won't have any problems. Like I said, that is my goal.

Yes, you can. You're more or less free to use this site as you like, and you take full advantage of that by always posting anonymously so that you can't be banned, etc. However, what you do that no one else does is post your giant wall of text upwards of 10 times in the same article as people down-mod it. Other people don't go around posting unwanted full page advertisements repeatedly, while taunting those who down-mod it. That is called spamming, and you're the only regular spammer here.

Call me ALL the names you like but ANYONE can see who is doing the trolling crap here & it's NOT me!

"Those people [who post abuse online] think they can sit in the comfort of their homes and do whatever they want on the internet. We don't let that happen. They can't hide from us, we will find them."

So the idea is that you're going to find them, and then post their picture and their message near to them so that they and everyone else can see what a tool that person is. Except you're going to obscure the picture and hide the name so that nobody knows who did it except the original author. Basically, you're just publishing this person's hate mail on the wall like a poster, and letting them see their work writ large.

APK, trolling on an article about trolling is just classic. Are you hoping to make a billboard so you can teach more people why not to use a hosts file? Are you trying to get a visit from your local police to force you into a psych evaluation?

Aww, thank you APK, it makes me feel all warm inside when you call me a troll. It is so nice when one of the biggest trolls in the community welcomes me with open arms to his elite community. It makes me feel awesome that you have finally allowed me to join the hallowed halls of trolldom where you rule as king of all the trolls.

So, when do I get my Moo pin, or my Apping App App? Or maybe you hand out APK pins, with this as the picture:

Shaw his ISP in Canada put him on a tracking ticket for email harassment too

I find that claim kind of funny considering that was the primary reason given for you getting booted from Ars, you were caught spamming people from someone's email address, and were reported to your ISP RoadRunner. Perhaps someone should let Shaw know that very likely it was you doing the harassment and not them.

* I can't help it that I am SUPERIOR to all of you "arseholes" @ arstechnica (home of the troll + underachiever online, lol)...

I haven't yet seen evidence you are superior to slime mold.

Cybordeath? That's not I, sorry... I had no need to use other identities other than myself...

Yeah right, you were outted saying me in that thread, that they were insulting you while you posted as Cybordeath.

Ask THOR SCHMUCK how Computer Associates PC suite is doing? LOL, sold off for the garbage it is AFTER CA was caught in ACCOUNTING SCANDALS -> http://www.bing.com/search?q=c [bing.com]... [bing.com]

Show me the least bit of correction APK. You have yet to actually say anything about what I said except to attack me personally and call me a retard. You have yet to actually prove anything I say wrong. If you ever manage to come up with an argument that doesn't involve personal attacks instead of proof than maybe you might have a point. Until you actually have a civil discussion, you will continue to be considered a troll by the whole Slashdot community, not just me.

At least what I create doesn't have negative worth. You created GUI front ends to the copy and delete commands. Are you too good for Windows Explorer? You made a GUI front end for a simple sort/unique command (that you felt the need to rewrite yourself) on a series of other people's hosts files. Now you are terrified that you have nothing to show for your 50+ years of life. I however know what I have to show for my life and don't need validation from an internet troll.

Then again, as I never claimed to be a programmer, and you did, we can criticize your programs. Your installer is a joke, you hard code paths that aren't always correct, you overwrite files in C:/Windows/System32 rather than keeping your outdated copies in the application folder, you use a freaking batch script for an installer instead of install shield or another installer program. You programmed your thieving code in Delphi. You refuse to allow others except your hero look at

So in other words, you have no response to anything I typed, and would prefer to spew your load of crap that I already refuted. It is nice to see that you can take constructive criticism from those who know more about security than you.

Again, work on your reading comprehension when replying to someone talking about how:

LIMITED MENTALLY DAMAGED GOOD ASSBURGERS BRAIN being only able to hold 1 of MANY variable factors in play @ a time

while totally missing half of what I talked about. But seriously...when are you going to give up your failed crusade? Local DNS with the same records is way faster than hosts in Windows. No matter how many times you try to change what I say, it doesn't change the fact that you have been schooled.

The side that people aren't talking about is that if your comments get posted on a billboard they're saying, "You know you did it, and so do we." Given that a lot of this crap stems from people feeling relatively anonymous on the internet, it could impact the number of offenders. I'm not saying it'll deter everyone, but given the potential costs of directly pursuing each offender, it may not be a terrible place to start.

The meaning of trolling has changed now from "pretending to take an inflammatory stance on a subject with the intent of pissing people off" to "offending people".

But you're right in that whichever definition you use, this seems like a bad idea. If the "troll" fits in the traditional definition, they've basically won the game by getting someone so riled up that they took out an entire billboard about it and put their comment in a kind of hall of fame. If they fit the modernized definition and actually believe their own nonsense, they'll probably be happy to see their comments reaching a wider audience.

Best case it might raise awareness in parents in the sense of them seeing it and thinking "that's terrible! I wonder what timmy posts online?" and maybe looking at their kids comment history for once.

APK Impersonates and intelligent human being. I never impersonated Steven Burns, which I assume is what you are trying to claim with that wall of garbage you keep posting. I have no idea why you would think I did anything of the sort. I linked to a post claiming to be by him, how would I know if it is him or not?

I don't even know if this is really Alexander Peter Kowalski, or a Penguin in the New York Zoo.

Remember kids its okay to dox someone if you are doing it for the right reasons.

I wonder how members of this group would react if people start posting their comments anonymous or otherwise without context.

I have no problem with what they are doing. I don't believe at all in any of this PC safe space bullshit. I just hope these folks realize that what they are doing is abusive in its own way. I don't challenge their right legally ( I have not idea what the rules are in their country) or morally to do this. They should understand though that its not likely to escalate rather than deescalate the discourse and its going to make their group and its members targets. The people they are calling out as trolls will probably respond by doing what trolls do, more trolling. As long as they understand by doing this that they have it coming and don't go crying to 'mommy government' best of luck to them.

Highly apropos. For the uninitiated, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmw... [tvtropes.org]The campaign's byline should instead be "virtual racism, real glory" because that's what it's going to look like for the trolls.

This kind of passive-aggressive whining will only encourage the trolls. Trolls thrive on the reaction they get. Giving them a billboard full of their trolling will stoke their ego more than anything else. This approach will only encourage them to troll harder so they get more billboards dedicated to their trolling.

We know it encourages trolls, just like media advertising people and their manifestos who commit horrible crimes encourages more crimes. This is such basic psychology that people in junior high get it (and used to be taught it). When you claim that the effect will not be what they intend, make sure you know the real intentions (not always the published one). I see this as a larger push to block free speech. More CISPA/SOPA dialogue will follow, and of course be hammered in to place because *insert appea

I'm not so sure. SJWs usually aren't smart enough to be that Machiavellian. They're usually true believers who "just know" that this kind of thing will work and once the trolls are "outed", they'll do a completely 180 and become born again good citizens. I mean, all it takes is someone who knows what's best for them telling them the "truth" to straighten them out...

Though that's not to say others won't try to capitalize on the failure that this campaign will surely turn out to be. But I doubt the ones sponsoring this idiocy are going into it with those kinds of long term goals.

They're usually true believers who "just know" that this kind of thing will work and once the trolls are "outed", they'll do a completely 180 and become born again good citizens. I mean, all it takes is someone who knows what's best for them telling them the "truth" to straighten them out...

I've noticed this about a strong contingent of liberals; they seem to have an irrational notion that people just need to be exposed to their liberal values and have "the truth" explained to them by someone who knows wha

There's really a complete lack of scientific reasoning from most humans, whether they're religious nuts, or into some social cause (which seems to be another religion of sorts). People believe things without any actual evidence at all, or based on some "evidence" which can't be cross-checked or validated in any way.

Not only do they believe things without any scientific reasoning behind it, if you do present them with any actual scientific reasoning that contradicts them, they will dismiss it out of hand, either calling the research flawed in some way or just plain ignoring it because it doesn't agree with their opinion.

And I've seen the SJW attitude in just about every corner of the religious and political spectrums. A lot of people are content to live their lives without being pushy about their beliefs. But no matt

Posting even the most vile vitriol on the internet pales in comparison to actually doing something in the real world. Do you really mean to suggest that talking bad on the internet is equivalent to lynching? Or even in the same ballpark?

I have a coworker who trolls for the sake of trolling. He talks about trolling, he trolls forums for movies just to tell people how bad they will be, and at one point he discussed using the Facebook gay pride filter on a confederate flag for use as a profile picture. He gets his jollies, and seeing something he doesn't actually identify with on a billboard would probably crack him up.

On the other hand, lets say the billboard generates dialog between people. Famil

It's not just people posting insults in the internet who are trolls. On the other hand, maybe they're just trolling us?

It's s stupid idea. There's enough crap floating around on the internet - there's no need to add to the visual blight on the landscape, in what will surely turn into a contest to see who can get their stuff featured on a billboard. In other words, they need to read up on the law of unintended consequences. [wikipedia.org] Or talk to Barbra Streisand...:-)

Why do people continue to use the word "troll" to describe every offensive thing they see on the Internet? Trolling means you are looking to provoke a reaction by making comments designed just to get a reaction. Some people post offensive things that they actually believe in. They aren't looking for a reaction, but posting what they really think. Those aren't "trolls", they are just offensive people.

If we hadn't succumbed to the commercial desire to mine our real identities and instead had stayed with the early internet's pseudonymity culture, we'd be more able to isolate any online abuse from our real lives.

What happens online should stay online, but this now seems impossible.

The troll is an individual, who wields their (largely illusory) power through manipulative skill and sheer determination to annoy and frustrate. It seems unfair that th

Also in Brazil TV show called CQC did something similar, they went after people posting offensive comments on diverse topics. I think some apologized but it was a short run, they ended after a guy headbutted and punched the reporter on camera.http://ig-wp-colunistas.s3.ama... [amazonaws.com]